medicina

Vaporu Pomada

I began making this pomada when the 2020 pandemic forced us to find new ways to be. Many of us had to learn how to make the things we previously simply bought even if we could make them. For me, this was the opportunity to relearn what had been lost… what my ancestors knew, what my mother knew, what I did not know I knew,  what colonization capitalism and the desire for immediacy had taken from us. 

I began to try to remember, to put myself in spaces that would remind me, and also teach me what I did not know. My ama and my mom both always healed me, us, with plant medicine.You have a stomach ache, yerba buena. Your back hurts, arnica. You can’t sleep, manzanilla. You want to make sure your sugars are in check, canela. You are feeling heavy, ruda. You have flema, a cough, maybe bronchitis, hot tomato in your socks. That’s one of the most vivid memories I have from my time in Santa Ines, Michoacan with my ama. Her coming to me in the middle of the night, the warmth of the tomato paste she had made in my sock, the vaporu on my chest.

The last time I had attempted to intentionally reconnect with the knowledge was as an undergrad and then that summer I spent with my ama before she transitioned to the spirit world, but I guess I wasn’t ready. Twenty twenty, the lock down, forcing us to go back to be within ourselves, in reflection, in acknowledgement, in self-understanding, took me back to the plantitas, to the knowledge keeping. So, I began to remember, to ask my mother questions, uncles, aunts, and experiment with memories and with new learning to eventually get to the recipes I now use, and to my new old way of being.

I had spent a lot of time unwilling to remember, to bring the understanding of plant medicine to my center since I was not able to learn from whom I wanted to learn, my abuelas. I wished I had asked more questions during those nights my ama told me stories, paid more attention to the times when I caught my mom burning hierbas or using ruda to throw water on the house, spent more time recognizing the knowledge their knowledge I overlooked… but in the end, my journey brought me back to it.

I began by honoring my mother’s knowledge and sharing with her what I was learning. I became open to learn from others. I listened to talks that Mujeres de Maiz put on, was blessed learn from Hood herbalism after attending some courses – which I earnestly recommend if you want to learn about medicina from indigenous, respectful perspectives. Being part of those spaces and others allowed me to understand I was connecting to my abuelas by relearning as much as I could from the places where my journey took me.

All the time in reflection, trying to process the heaviness of our reality, led me back to the plantitas to heal me, to nourish me/us. Eventually, this was a catalyst to my journey with pomada making and this vaporu pomada. I took a recipe I had learned from Hood Herbalism and added what my ama, mom and my own connection with the plantitas taught me.

Anis para tranquilizar, para desinflamar y para la flema. They used to give me anis tea for my cough, my phlem and I always trusted it. Gordolobo que sirve para el bronquitis, asma and respiratory problems. I learned this while making remedios for folks who had gotten COVID and then my mom confirmed what I had learned. Hierbabuena que es antioxidante y previene inflamacion, tambien es antibacterial y relajante. That smell when you inhale the vapor I always loved and the medicine in the vapor helps heal colds as it is a decongestant.

During our lockdown, I had also begun growing vegetables and medicinal hierbas including cempasúchil so I added it to the vaporu. Many only know it as the flower we use to honor our ancestors on altares, cemeteries, en fiestas para nuestros difuntos, but in addtion to being and excellent natural dye, it is also good for coughs. To honor my ama, I added canela which she always told me, “sirve para muchas cosas” some of which is to improve the immune system, to relax the body and improve circulation. Finally, the Hood herbalism recipe included alcanfor and I asked my mom what that was used for. She said she used it on me with sage and eucalyptus when my bronchitis flared up. Alcanfor is a decongestant and removes flema. And since my mom said she used eucalyptus on me when I was a kid, I added that too.

I usually add the hierbas to grapeseed oil either on full moon or new moon, put them on my altar and wait a lunar cycle before making the pomada. The final ingredients are a few drops olbas oil which opens up the passageways and I just love the smell.. as well as coconut oil… and finally bees wax to make the pomada firm. I do not have a recipe with exact amounts because I add amounts that I am moved to add but usually I use a 3:1 ratio (grapeseed oil to hierbas) and about a tablespoon of beeswax per 1/4 of a cup of the finished infused oil (maybe a little less it always varies) as Bere taught us in her Hood Herbalism classes.

I share what I have learned on this journey when I can in hopes that others reconnect with plantitas, learn to trust them too. My vaporu is with me every night just like my abuelas, my ama’s and my mother’s prayers. I continue to learn, trust the plant medicine and myself, and to learn to unlearn what no longer serves me.